A Look Ahead: Entering twenty-eleven
By Read Holman
In the spirit of renewal that every New Year brings, we reflect back and we look forward. While the beginning of 2010 saw only a handful of leaders across the Department (hats off to CDC and NIH/NCI at the forefront), now individuals within offices across HHS have lessons learned and unique skills to share for the benefit of the community. The pockets of expertise are becoming less silo-d as knowledge spreads and the tide of information raises all boats.
New questions continue to drive conversation: How does old media integrate with new media? What’s the most effective way to empower individual programs while ensuring a unified Departmental effort? How do we best share lessons learned from others’ experiences? How can technology help us interact with our stakeholders? What’s up with FedSpace?
The pace of today’s technological advancement promises plenty for us to get excited about. Geo-location. Gaming. Mash-ups. Mobile. Mobile. Mobile. So many emerging technologies backed by consumer (aka tax-payer) demand widen our attentions, but the focus on a strategy based on your office’s mission statement still drives the prioritization of our collective efforts. The only difference now is that there are more tools to sort through and prioritize.
We look forward to a year when new media will be strategically woven into the fabric of every communications plan. We’ll no longer jump onto platforms like twitter to be cool like our neighbor office; instead we’ll more deeply integrate audience analysis, health communications theory, and a full strategic plan to maximize each technology.
Twenty-eleven (or is it two-thousand-eleven?) looks to be an exciting year at HHS. Here at the HHS Center for New Media, we will continue to offer new opportunities to build community and share experience. And we will continue to explore new territory in dealing with the tough issues that are unique to government usage of new media technologies. We look forward to working with you all to grow the HHS Center for New Media and to help increase the effectiveness and the efficiency of the Department that directly touches the lives of every American.
There are always competing priorities. Should we focus on TOS issues? Is guidance on a specific platform needed? How about a brown bag series? Tell us what you would like to see from the HHS Center for New Media in 2011 by submitting a comment to this post.
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